Global Moonsighting, a Modern Bid`ah

By AbdurRahman | Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Ironically, one Muslim website (from a certain masjid that "calls to the sunnah") quite openly stated the
following on its main page before this article became public. Now it can only be found on their Yahoo Groups message list:

"As you know, Masjid ______ follows the opinion of wahdatul matale' (unification of the horizon), so if the moon is
visually sighted anywhere in the world (without relying on calculations), then we break fast as numerous hadeeth on the subject
expressly indicate. Our position on this has been same from day one."

First of all, what they are essentially doing is calling people to bid‘ah, because you will not find a single hadith that tells about one country (like Egypt) following the sighting of another country
(like the Arabs of the Arabian peninsula). I challenge any shaykh to find such a hadith, because no one could travel great
distances or use telephones and satellites to report such sightings until about 50 years ago, if even that early.
On the contrary, we find that Muslims living much closer to one another with different sightings never bothering to follow one another.

A narration of Ibn ‘Abbas in Sahīh Muslim indicates that local moonsighting alone was the prevailing method
in the time of the Blessed Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and was a part of the teachings of the Blessed Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
to the Sahābah. The narration goes like this:

Sahīh Muslim
Book 6
Chapter 5: THERE IS A SIGHTING OF THE MOON FOR EVERY TOWN
THE SIGHTING AT ONE TOWN CANNOT BE HELD VALID FOR THE OTHER TOWN
SITUATED AT A CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE FROM IT

Kurayb narrates that Umm al-Fadl sent him to Mu‘āwiyah in Sham for something.
Kurayb says,"I went to Sham and finished the job. I was in Sham when the month
of Ramadān began and we saw the moon the night of Friday. When I reached
Madinah at the end of the blessed month, Ibn ‘Abbas asked me about Sham.
(After answering him) He then asked me when we saw the moon.
I said, 'We saw the moon the night of Jumu‘ah.'
He asked, 'Did you see it as well?'
I said, 'Yes, I saw it too and many others saw it and we all kept fasting and so did
Mu‘āwiyah (that is according to that moonsighting).'
Ibn ‘Abbas said, 'But we saw the moon on Saturday night, therefore, we will keep
fasting for thirty days according to that unless we sight the moon on the 29th.'
I asked, 'You don’t think the moonsighting of Mu‘āwiyah and his fasting is enough
for you?'Ibn ‘Abbas replied, 'No, this is how the Blessed Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) taught us.'"
(Muslim H.1819, Tirmiðī H.629, Nasa'i H.2084, Abū-Dāwūd H.1985, Musnad Ahmad
H.2653 Dar-qutni H.2234)

This hadith is clear evidence. When Ibn ‘Abbas was informed by the person who himself sighted the moon
that the people of Sham had begun Ramadān one day before, he responded that it was not only his opinion, but
also the teachings of the Blessed Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) that the moonsighting of another locality was not
compulsory upon them.

Shaykh ‘Uthaymīn has issued a very clear fatwa to Muslims in the Americas and other lands outside
the Arabian Peninsula with no ambiguity whatsoever regarding this matter:

It is well known amongst astronomers that the time the moon rises differs from place to
place. The moon might be seen in one place and not in another. Therefore, according to
the verse, whoever does not see it is not obliged to fast. . . .
If, therefore, each place has its own ruling due to the variation in the time that the sun rises
and sets, the same also applies due to the variation in the time that the moon rises and
sets. . . .
Therefore, the answer to the question is clear. It is obligatory for you to follow the sighting
of the new moon in the place where you are.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymīnal-Aqalliyāt al-Muslimah - Page 84,
Fatwa No.23

In the system of "global sighting" (wahdat-ul-matale') one is de facto not following any moon sighting
at all, since their announcements rarely correspondent to what is astronomically possible to see on the Arabian
peninsula, rather they almost always coincide with the calculations of the New Moon (a phase that precedes
the actual hilāl!) or other algorithms that are
poorly suited to predicting the first visible crescent, like the
Umm-ul-Qura calendar,
the Hebrew Calendar, or sometimes the Kuwaiti Algorithm implemented by the Microsoft Windows
operating system. Here is the evidence:
Is Saudi Arabia following the Sunnah, the Jews, or Microsoft?

According to the Islamic Crescents' Observation Project (ICOP), "Most people think that Saudi Arabia always
adopts the actual sighting of the crescent as the basis to start Islamic months. But during the previous years,
it was very clear to the public as well as to astronomers that most of the Saudi months were wrong if the actual
sighting is the basis for starting the Islamic month. Fortunately, the Jordanian Astronomical Society (JAS)
received a telegram from The Highest Religious Council "Majlis al-Ifta' al-A‘ala" in Saudi Arabia confirming
that Saudi Arabia adopts the astronomical calculations and totally ignores the actual sighting. Below is a literal
translation of this telegram."
(see ICOP - The Actual Saudi Dating System)

One experienced moon sighter, Salman Zafar Shaikh, writes, "In the case of ‘Īd-ul-Fitr 1420 AH,
I myself went with the Makkah committee to a sighting point on a hilltop of Shamesi outside the city of Makkah
Mukarramah on Thursday evening. Neither I, nor the other 5 committee members sighted the Hilāl. But we came back
to the Harām Sharīf and were astounded to hear the announcement that ‘Īd-ul-Fitr was next day (Friday).
In fact moonset was before sunset in Makkah for Thursday evening. In this case the error was quite brazen"
(see Hilāl Sighting in Saudi Arabia: A First Hand
Report). Brother Salman goes on to explain, ". . . apparently it is the same few [Saudi] people at certain
locations, reporting on those occasions when the claims are extraordinarily early in Saudi Arabia, year after year.
WAllāhu A‘alam!"

If you look at 15 years of the
Umm-ul-Qura calendar one will
be surprised to see that only 20.6% of the dates correspond with possible naked eye sightings of the hilāl
under good weather conditions:

Color Code

Visibility possibilityunder goodweather conditions

How many timesthis condition ismet in 180 months

Percentage of times this condition is met in 180 months

Green

Visible with the naked eye

37/180

20.6%

Yellow

Visible with optical aid

31/180

17.2%

Brown

Not visible at all

110/180

61.1%

Pink

Month begins before new moon

2/180

1.1%

Shaykh Qaradāwī has given a fatwa
on what to do in case one has gotten caught up in this mess of Saudi using calculations instead of calling the new
month by actual sighting, as was the case on January 07, 2000 which they claimed was ‘Īd-ul-Fitr 1420 AH,
but was actually only the 30th of Ramadān.

On December 31, 2005, the sun should set (drop completely below the Makkan horizon) at 17:49 local Saudi time
with the moon already dipping below the horizon 5˚ to its left at 18:03, insha'Allāh. At 18:08 (only 19 minutes after
sunset) the moon too will be compelely below the Makkan horizon, insha'Allāh, making it totally impossible to
see any hilāl. All experienced moon sighting observers know that with only 0.5% phase and less than 8 degrees
of separation between it and the sun, no hilāl can be sighted under such poor conditions. But just wait and see,
Saudi Arabia will officially announce that they "sighted the hilāl" like they always claim, so that it matches
their calendar, making January 1, 2006 the 1st of Ðūl Hijjah, and thus, ‘Īd-ul-Adhā will fall on January 10,
2006, unless of course, the Saudi regime repents from following calculations and goes back to the sunnah of
actually sighting the hilāl.

If Saudi Arabia really did see the hilāl on Oct. 03, 2005 around 18:08 local Saudi time, with only 2 minutes
between sunset and moonset for sighting it, why could it not be seen with much better visibility chances further to
the West? Consider how the moon moves around the earth in its orbit while looking at this sky charts in which the
horizonal line just above the sun represents the horizon, i.e. everything below that horizontal line in the middle
has already set (gone down below the horizon) and cannot be seen, even with a radio telescope from that location.

Allāh says in His book: الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ
which has been translated by Khan in the Noble Qur'ān (the English translation preferred by those who support "global" sighting) as: "The sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly) calculated with measured out stages for each (for reckoning, etc.)."
(Sūrat-ur-Raḥmān 55:5)

Since the scientists have measured the synodic period of the moon to be 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds, i.e. the length of time it takes for us to observe a complete orbit of the moon from earth, if the Saudis report having seen a crescent moon on Monday, October 3, 2005 around 18:08 local Saudi time, that means an observer like myself with excellent viewing conditions should see and even bigger crescent 30 days, 7 hours, and 32 minutes later, espcially given the quality Nikon 7x50 binoculars and a 35mm SLR camera equipped with 300mm telephoto lens using FujiFilm:

Even in the case of ‘Īd-ul-Adhā, there is no evidence from the Qur'an or sunnah
that the Messenger of Allāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) or any of the Sahābah ever tried to establish a
so-called "Wahdatul Matale' (unification of the horizon)":

"If, as we are told by those postulating the 'Day after Arafat' position, that ‘Īd-ul-Adhā
is dependent on the Hajj date, then why did the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) make no effort to ascertain
the Hajj dates in Makkah for his ‘Īd celebration in Madinah? After the conquest of Makkah
in the seventh year of the Hijra there would have been no problem in finding out when the Hajj was going
to be since there would be ten days for a rider to travel to surrounding areas with the glorious news.
The Messenger of Allāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) made no attempt to know, or to inform the Muslims in the areas
around Madinah about when the Hajj was in Makkah. Every Muslim community prayed according to its own
sighting of the crescent of Ðūl Hijjah. Accordingly, all the scholars of Islām are unanimous that
‘Īd-ul-Adhā is on the 10th of Ðūl Hijjah which is determined by the sighting in each locality,
and NOT ON THE 10th OF ÐŪL HIJJAH IN MAKKAH. It is a bid‘ah to try to impose a Vatican-like
dogma on the Muslim ummah, although the propagators would tell you that they are simply following
a 'universal horizon.' Don't be fooled. In Ramadān of 1999 it was claimed that the moon was seen in Yemen
and Libya, and the Muslims of those countries began fasting on December 8, 1999. Those who claim to accept
any sighting anywhere in the world conveniently ignored those Muslims, opting for the 'universal sighting'
of their choice. The Companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) opposed every attempt to impose the moon
sighting in one town over the others, even in close proximity, when it was not seen on a clear horizon, or
when the horizon was cloudy on the 29 day of the Islamic month."
(The Community News, a newsletter published by TARIC,
vol. 107, March 8, 2000.)

To call people to follow a "global sighting" is to defy the laws of Allāh. Just as He has ordained for
us to pray five times a day at times according to the position of the sun relative to our own horizon
where we happen to be at that time, so has He ordained for us to look for the hilāl and sight it where
we happen to be living or staying during that time of the month. To say there is one universal horizon, or a
"unity" of the horizon is absolutely absurd. It would be the same as arguing that we should follow the prayer
timings of Masjid Al-ḥarām for the sake of unity. To call people to pray in perfect global synchronization
with Makkah would be a profound bid‘ah, just as it is to call people to the falsehood of "one
horizon," would be to ignore that the planet earth is round, and imitate the ignorant Christians of earlier
centuries who fought science tooth and nail, maintaining that the earth was flat.

There are inifinite horizons since the earth is round and covered with many visible obstructions of
a clear horizon. If you don't believe it, try to go outside and watch the sun set just before Maghrib.
Chances are, you'll need to drive outside of the city to avoid having tall buildings obstruct your view, or
you'll have to move a few meters to the left or right of that tree that's blocking your view.

You see, just moving a few meters has changed your view of the horizon, so let's examine the situation of
the sun and the moon. At any given time, the sun is hidden to half of the planet earth, while the other half
can see it, and thus has daylight. As the earth turns on its axis, Maghrib is constantly happening for
a thin band along the surface of the earth where late afternoon is turning to night. Likewise, on the other
side of the planet, the first light of dawn is rapidly moving along a narrow band of the earth's surface towards
the West. So, Fajr is constantly happening somewhere in the world, 24 by 7, never stopping. Even though
we may be eating our dinner, for someone, somewhere, it's their Fajr time.

The moon, just like the sun, is never visible to more than 50% of the earth's surface at any time, day or night.
What the proponents of "wahdat-ul-matale" have never seemed to grasp is a simple truth, a decree of Almighty Allāh,
that the moon moves ever so slowly apparently from West to East, i.e. it is slowing moving in the same
direction that the earth is spinning! If these people who call to the bid‘ah of global sighting
would take the time to reflect on this simple fact, they might understand this all-important second fact:

"North America lags the rest of the world in time (they are 10 hours behind South Africa), quite often they will
see the new moon before the rest of the world, and thus start the new month ahead of the rest of the world. This
is a consequence of the fact that the sun sets last over the American continent, giving the new moon more time to
age and become visible."Jamiatul Ulama (KZN) - Hilaal Committee

So, this is why global sighting is wrong, why it was never implemented by anyone until less than 50 years ago:
Allāh has made it impossible to implement!

Proof: If a new moon (not a hilāl, but an "invisible" moon) has been born and only develops into
a mature visible hilāl by 20 minutes after sunset in Honolulu, Hawaii, which would mark the beginning of
Ramadān for them, what are the Saudis, Kuwaitis, and Bahrainis going to do about their fasting? It's 18:30 at
night in Honolulu and by the time they got to a phone and called anyone in Saudia it was 19:00, that's 07:00 in
the morning, the next day in Saudi Arabia. Too late to get on Saudi TV 1 to announce the beginning of
Ramadān. Oops! They also missed out on the first night of praying tarawīḥ! For Manila in the Philippines
and many places in Australia, their Muslims will have no chance whatsoever of starting Ramadān on time since it
is already 12:30 in the afternoon (or later in some Australian time zones) the NEXT DAY! How can someone say
that Allāh (سبحانه وتعالى) would prefer this type of unfairness to be imposed on His slaves just west of the
International Dateline?

From this proof, we see their is no ḥikmah whatsoever in the so-called "global" moonsighting (wahdat-ul-matale').
Please note that this proof is completely devoid of "calculations" or the use of star charts. This is just plain
common sense that shows how ridiculous "global" sighting really is. With local sighting, Muslims are not following
any ethinic group, tribe, political affiliation, or regime/government. No one feels slighted. No nation/state is
preferred over another. That's the Islamic way: the fair way, the just way, the way that Allāh
(سبحانه وتعالى) commands us to follow, and the way His Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) taught Ibn ‘Abbas (remember
the Kurayb Hadith?).

Any so-called fatwa from any of the four great Imāms supporting "global" moonsighting (wahdat-ul-matale')
can never be applied to this current bid‘ah simply because none of them lived during a time when travel
across thousands of kilometers could be achieved in the same day, nor could they speak with someone sitting on the
other side of the planet over a telephone to inquire about hilāl sightings.

Any fatwa from any of the four great Imāms would at best be considered a "local," "regional," or if one wished to
stretch it very far, a "national" sighting. From an astronomical point of view, the differences between positions
and phases of the moon for positions on the earth that could be reached by a fast horse in less than a day are for
all practical purposes, exactly the same. Please review the following star charts for
Makkah and
Madinah.

In conclusion, there is no evidence from the Qur'ān or the sunnah, supporting a so-called "global" moonsighting
(wahdat-ul-matale') that relies on sighting attempts from observation points spanning thousands of kilometers
around the globe. Until 50 years ago, it was technologically, logistically, and financially impossible to implement.
Regarding the fasting of Ramadān, a proof was given in point number 4 that is not even possible to implement this so-called
"global" moonsighting (wahdat-ul-matale') according to the sharī‘ah.

Appendix

Shaykh M. Ibrahim Memon quite eloquently states, "During the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), moon sighting
was always conducted locally and the people of Makkah and Madinah maintained their own [separate] Islamic calendars.
One of the proofs for this can be found by carefully analyzing the sīrah.

"When Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) performed his one and only Hajj, the 9th of Ðūl Hijjah was a Friday. He passed
away three months later in Madinah on Monday, the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal. These historical facts are established
through hadith. However, when one tries to reconstruct the Islamic calendar given those days, the 12th of Rabi
al-Awwal does not fall on a Monday, any which way you try.

Based on the local Makkan moon sighting, if every month was 29 days, 12th of Rabi al-Awwal would fall on Thursday.

Based on the local Makkan moon sighting, if every month was 30 days, 12th of Rabi al-Awwal would fall on Sunday.

Concerning local sighting Shaykh M. Ibrahim Memon states, "not only is this way easy, but it is actually a
of the tradition of the Blessed Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and of the people after him throughout the history
of Islam."

Additional Resources

Report of Six Official Saudi Hilāl Sighting Committees
"Majlis Al Qadah Alala started Ramadān, Shawwal, and Ðūl Hijjah 1426 AH utilizing the calculated dates of the
Umm-ul-Qura civil calendar which corresponds exactly to the first starting day for the months of the Calculated
Rabbinical Calendar of Israel namely
Tishrei
(4th October/1st day of Ramadān in Saudi Arabia),
Cheshvan
(3rd November/1st day of Shawwal-‘Īd-ul-Fitr in Saudi Arabia) and
Tevet
(1st January/1st day of Ðūl Hijjah in Saudi Arabia), respectively. Many of our Islamic Scholars who know the
truth continue to be silent."
It seems the report forgot to mention that the calculated "Saudi" 1 Ðūl Qa‘idah 1426 for December 2,
2005 is also exactly the same as the
1st
of Kislev 5766. Looks like a good starting point for some Interfaith Dialogue between the Saudi Royal family and
the Likud Party of Israel!

Causes and implications of the Saudi
confusion about the dates for Hajj and ‘Īd
"The Saudi regime also manipulated the start and end of last Ramadān, as they had done many previous ones.
While the overwhelming majority of Muslims worldwide celebrated ‘Īd-ul-Fitr on Saturday, January 8,
the Saudis had announced the sighting of a non-existent moon on Thursday January 6 to 'celebrate'
‘Īd-ul-Fitr on Friday, January 7.
"One Saudi newspaper, Arab News at least had the decency to admit later (February 11) that the January 7
celebration was based on false information. The regime, however, kept mum. The Arab News story followed the
discovery that there was a partial eclipse of the sun on February 5 which lasted until after sunset, thus
making any sighting of the moon impossible even had the moon been there to be sighted. According to this
analysis, the month of Shawwal, according to the Saudi calculation, ended up having 31 days, an impossibility
from the Islamic point of view (lunar months can only be of 29 or 30 days).
"This regular confusion is despite changes made to the Saudis' calendar arrangements following criticism
from around the world of their arbitrary practices. The Saudi regime has now set up Hilal (crescent)
sighting committees in six cities: Makkah, Riyadh, Qassim, Hail, Tabuk and Asir. The committees comprise
religious scholars, quddah (plural of qadi), astronomers, scientists and other qualified
people, as well as volunteers. Yet the regime does not follow the information provided by these committees,
instead apparently relying on sighting claims by laymen without applying any standard for verifying the
information. Neither the Shawwal (‘Īd-ul-Fitr) moon nor the Ðūl Hijjah moon was sighted by
the experts in the committees on the dates on which they announced their sightings. These committees have
been appointed but they are virtually powerless.

Determination of Eid al-Adha
"Further, if the argument of the [former ISNA] article is accepted and it is held that the real intention
of Qur'ān and Sunnah was to link the celebration of ‘Īd-ul-Adhā with the Saudi dates, as a
mandatory provision for all Muslims in the world, it means that the sharī‘ah has stressed a
principle which was not acceptable for 1300 years. It is not against the Quranic declaration that Allah
does not make a thing mandatory unless it is practical for the human beings.
"If the authors [of the former ISNA article] argue that the celebration of ‘Īd-ul-Adhā was
not linked with the dates in Makkah in the past but it has become a mandatory requirement of the
sharī‘ah now, then the question arises, who has abrogated the previous principle and on
what basis? There is no provision in Qur'ān or the Sunnah which orders the Muslims to celebrate
‘Īd-ul-Adhā according to their local dates up to a particular time and to link it with
the dates in Makkah thereafter. Whoever considers this and similar questions arising out of this
unprecedented theory advanced in the article can appreciate its fallacy.

Which Hilāl (Islamic Crescent) to Follow?
"Synchronizing ‘Īd-ul-Adhā worldwide with hilāl sighting in Saudi Arabia is
not appropriate because it is neither ikhtilāf-ul-Matāle (multiple horizons/local sighting),
nor wahdat-ul-matāle (single horizon - follow first report of hilāl - no matter from which
country). . . . According to the Shaykh ibn ‘Uthaymīn (r.a) fatwa, and other scholars, Ðūl Hijjah
determination is no different from other 11 months and should be by local sighting (ikhtilāf-ul-matāle).
. . . Using sighting in Saudi Arabia for here [in North America] can force us to ignore our earlier local
hilāl sighting. (The world is round - for certain years, e.g. North America should see hilāl
one date before the Middle-East)."

Wikipedia article on the Islamic Calendar
"Nevertheless, the religious authorities of Saudi Arabia also allow the testimony of less experienced
observers and thus often announces the sighting of the lunar crescent on a date when none of the official
committees could see the lunar crescent."

WebExhibits: The Islamic calendar
"Saudi Arabia doesn't rely on a visual sighting of the crescent moon to fix the start of a new month.
Instead they base their calendar on a calculated astronomical moon."

A sample moon sighting

Friday evening, 02 December 2005: first hilāl of Ðūl Qa‘idah 1426
Cloudless weather conditions
Sunset was at 17:15 EST.
Sighted with Nikon OceanPro 7x50 7.2° CF WP compass binoculars at 17:28 EST.
Sighted with a 300mm telephoto
lens at 17:34 EST.
Sighted with naked eye at
17:39 EST. Can you see it? It's already 31 hours and 38 minutes after the new moon. Pretty old
for a first day hilāl. Remember the record sighting listed above of 15.5 hours by the U.S.
Naval Observatory? There is nothing record breaking about his sighting, yet without knowing exactly
where to look, a novice probably would not have been able to spot it.

Keep in mind that this hilāl, barely visible with the naked eye, boasts a 2.7% phase
(percentage of surface visible) and is 17° away from the sun.

The so-called "sighting" reported by Saudi officials on Oct. 03, 2005 marking the premature
beginning of Ramadān 1426 had a phase of 0.00% and was only 1.63° away from the sun. The moon
was already partially below the horizon after the sun completely set! This so-called "sighting"
happened only 4 hours and 40 minutes after the new moon! Remember the all-time record
of 15.5 hours by the U.S. Naval Observatory? A hilāl sighted only 4 hours and 40 minutes
after the new moon? I don't think so!

In the photos above, the moon was stayed in the sky almost 48 minutes after the sun went down
completely, yet one had to wait 13 minutes before the sky was dark enough for the hilāl
to be visible, and 24 minutes after sunset for one to be able to spot it with the naked eye,
although the exact position with binoculars had been established 11 minutes before! Now tell
us how the Saudis could see any hilāl with only 2 minutes of viewing after sunset and a
visible lunar surface area of 0.00%.